PHOENIX—For years, even decades, the Kansas City Royals told their fans to wait. Just be patient and eventually years of cellar dwelling and early drafting would pay off in the form of a legitimate contender.

That is how business works when you suffer through an incredible 27-season playoff drought. It’s mind-boggling to think that while low-to-mid payroll teams like the Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland A’s all have made at least one recent postseason run, it has been nearly three decades since the Royals have played meaningful baseball in October.

The Royals are counting on James Shields and others to improve the rotation. (AP Photo)

The overwhelming reason for that has been poor starting pitching. Since the 2000 season, the Royals’ rotation has ranked no higher than ninth in ERA among the 14 American League teams. It has finished 14th four times, 13th once, and 11th or 12th four times in those 13 seasons.

“You do it with starting pitching,” general manager Dayton Moore told reporters this past offseason, repeating things he has said for years. “Starting pitching tilts the field in your favor every night.

“In our situation, like most teams, the best way to get that starting pitching is to develop it yourself.”

The problem is the Royals have failed miserably to do that over the past 10-plus years, with the exception of Zack Greinke. And because the next crop of promising pitching prospects isn’t major league-ready—the system’s position prospects developed more quickly—Moore had to order takeout while his homemade dishes continue to marinate.

No longer able to sell the fan base on the idea of waiting, Moore made one of the boldest trades of the offseason (and possibly the gutsiest in franchise history) when he sent one of the sport’s best prospects, outfielder Wil Myers, to the Rays for front-line veteran righthander James Shields and back-end starter Wade Davis. Moore also traded for veteran Ervin Santana and re-signed veteran Jeremy Guthrie, giving the rotation plenty of experience.

Less than a month into spring training and still more than two weeks from opening day, that move has changed the outlook at Royals camp.

“It’s completely different,” said righthander Luke Hochevar, once one of the organization’s coveted pitching prospects but now trying to redirect his career to avoid becoming another of the failed projects. “That’s accurate. We went out and got some serious arms this offseason. That’s going to be a big help, especially if our young offense can swing it and score runs.

“With experience comes confidence and hopefully success. I think everybody kind of feels that way here.”

With good reason.

Besides Shields, who is considered by some to be one of the league’s true aces, Santana has shown he can be one of the AL’s best starters when he is on top of his game. Guthrie is durable and posted a 3.16 ERA in 14 starts after being acquired from the Colorado Rockies last summer. Davis, strictly a reliever last season with the Rays but now Kansas City’s fourth starter, might have discovered what held him back as a starter in his first two full seasons in the majors.

That is a long way from a year ago when Bruce Chen and Hochevar were the candidates to start on opening day. Now those two are battling Luis Mendoza to win the fifth spot.

“We are just looking to go out and compete right now,” said Shields, who made his fourth Cactus League appearance Tuesday. “That’s one of the things we have now. Every five days our team can look forward to competing. We have a good starting core.”

The Royals control Shields for the next two seasons (a team option for 2014). Even if they can’t afford to re-sign him or if he doesn’t accept a possible qualifying offer after the 2014 season, the team hopes he can at least bridge the gap until its top pitching prospects are healthy and/or major league-ready.

The optimism doesn’t just come from the nameplates above locker stalls here. Even after Tuesday’s loss, Kansas City’s 13-2 record is the best in the Cactus League and Grapefruit League.

That means little, but signs of progression from guys like Eric Hosmer (currently with Team USA in the WBC), Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez and Billy Butler (Moore elected to keep him and trade Myers) support the belief that this team can compete for a wild-card berth this season.

“We definitely have given ourselves a chance,” Shields said. “Dayton did a great job this offseason of getting some pieces to fold into the great pieces they already had on this team. I’m excited because we have a good chance to string together a bunch of wins.”